When drummer-composer Bobby Previte explained his new music is “all about this band” Thursday at the Van Dyck, this might have seemed obvious. But how he orchestrated the skills in his first new ensemble in 20 years with freedom and force, strength and subtlety, felt uncommonly dynamic.

Merriam-Webster defines dynamic, the noun, as “a particular way that two or more people interact with one another determined by context, social roles, etc.” As an adjective: “marked by usually continuous and productive activity or change; energetic, forceful; of or relating to physical force or energy.”

Bingo.

That noun thing fit well as the 110-minute show often felt like a mosaic of duets while many solos flowed unaccompanied. Previte played more notes in less time than anybody; but at times, he stopped playing altogether, leaning against the wall to listen. Then he’d erupt: dynamic.

Bobby Previte’s Second Arrow, from left: Angelica Sanchez, Matt Bauder, Weindy Eisenbert, Jerome Harris, Bobby Previte

He introduced everybody first: keyboardist Angelica Sanchez, bassist Jerome Harris, guitarist Wendy Eisenberg, reeds player Matt Bauder (tenor sax, flute and bass clarinet). Previte is 74, longtime bandmate Harris a year younger; everybody else, decades younger. Previte soloed first to introduce himself in the tentative opener “Roam,” mainly on ride cymbal, toms and snare. Then everybody joined in a two-chord riff that built in a wandering way, deliberate and thoughtful, until everything faded but Harris’s steady bass.

Nice continuity: Harris droned a four-note slow walk, repeating alone until Sanchez took it up. Then in came flute and drums, Sanchez revved to double-time with just Harris’s bass, some explosive drums commentary and then another duet of guitar and flute. Bauder played calm and cool, then Eisenberg soared into her highest register, fretting between the pickups before Previte’s drums joined and they went wild together.

Again, continuity: “Scramble” earned its name in caffeinated bebop runs, jagged and confident. Everybody went high energy as Bauder held his tenor sax fire until Previte cued everybody else to lay out while Bauder flew fast, far and alone. Everybody came back in, full force, especially Previte. Then they ran the cycle again, then changed it up, Eisenberg soloing with a Leslie buzz effect, Bauder’s tenor and Sanchez’s keys uniting, then separating as Eisenberg dashed like darting flames until Bauder took the coda alone.

“Circle” supplied a cool change of pace, Previte playing tom rolls with mallets, Bauder’s flute riding sparse riffs before Previte’s cymbals linked with Sanchez’s piano in a repeating pattern that flowed with Harris’s bass under guitar and keys. A dramatic stop and go led into a spicy saxophone rasp and howl section that faded into an airy keyboard and cymbals ending.

Previte said most of what they were playing was on an album so new “no one has this record yet,” holding up a vinyl copy. 

Eisenberg switched to acoustic guitar, flamenco-like, to introduce “Stroll” and Bauder went with the change, playing bass clarinet in a surge that exploded the tune’s mid-tempo start. Sanchez dug in hard as Previte rode the energy, then pushed it in a rocking shuffle. Eisenberg looked at Previte for her cue to jump back in, smiled when she got it and pushed as hard as both Bauder and Sanchez had.

Afterward, Previte joked that his sole instruction to Bauder about his solo was that he should “play way too long;” but Bauder made solid sense of it anyway.

The sci-fi blues “Promenade” built from a simple riff by guitar and keys, Previte leading then laying out, Bauder’s tenor sax and a spooky late guitar solo carrying that riff around in a relaxed roll. But after this mellow joy, “Climb” pumped everybody’s pulse, onstage and off – a hot boogaloo, primal and punchy, before tenor sax and keys accelerated to a hard stop. Previte revived it strong, all by himself and things got deliciously weird. Bauder cyber-looped his tenor sax, Harris added electronic fuzz to his bass lines and Eisenberg’s wild guitar helped craft the mood of an R&B dive bar on Mars; Sanchez’s keys in solid support.

Above: Angelica Sanchez, left foreground, with Matt Bauder, bass clarinet; Jerome Harris, bass; Bobby Previte, drums; Wendy Eisenberg behind Bauder. Below, Sanchez’s hands

Still more continuity: Eisenberg hit the fuzz tone to jump-start “Range,” Bauder’s bass clarinet and Sanchez’s keys linked up as close as Eisenberg and Previte did next; as close as Bauder and Eisenberg did at the end. Late in this romp, Previte raised his stick high as his face before slamming the snare, smiling wide. Like a big wave it pushed strong, then subsided, sparse on a repeating riff.

“One more?” asked asked Previte to a big yes from the crowd. They started slow and somber, then built another series of duets, acoustic guitar alone at the start, then flute with brushed drums, keyboards with guitar.

“All about this band,” dynamic, and not even remotely retro, Previte’s Second Arrow evoked the sonic spirits of jazz giants; rockers, too: drummers Tony Williams and Clyde Stubblefield, bassists James Jamerson and Rocco Prestia, guitarists Andres Segovia and Jimi Hendrix, keyboardists Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson, reeds players Eric Dolphy, Archie Shepp and John Coltrane.

The Songs

Previte said his one-word song titles, all kinetic action verbs, made them easy to introduce

Roam

Walk

Scramble

Circle

Stroll

Promenade

Climb

Range

Glide